Sheriff sued over photos

PORT CLINTON — The Ottawa County sheriff and a former sheriff's detective passed around unflattering photos of a woman and made disparaging remarks about her after she filed a sex crime complaint against a Put-in-Bay police officer, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo. Levorchick Sheriff Steve Levorchick and detective Amy Gloor "knowingly, willingly and intentionally shared these sexually explicit photos with other persons who were outside of the sexual assault investigation without (her) consent," the lawsuit contends. Arica Waters, 29, who was a Put-in-Bay police officer at the time, filed a complaint with the sheriff's office in July 2020 alleging she had an unwanted sexual encounter with a fellow officer she just recently met. She was attending a party at the man's home with other members of the police force, she told Gloor, and had too much to drink, according to the report she filed. The other officer was not charged, but Waters was charged after Gloor finished her investigation about a year later. A county grand jury indicted Waters on a felony charge of making a false alarm after Gloor said Waters lied about what happened. A special prosecutor from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's office presented testimony to the grand jury. Yost's office prosecuted the case, but in December visiting Judge Janet Burnside acquitted Waters after two days of testimony. Burnside said there was no evidence that Waters lied. Yost has never explained why he sought charges against Waters or addressed a number of concerning issues raised by crime victim advocates. In her lawsuit, Waters accuses Levorchick and Gloor of "violating her trust" and "humiliating" her by sharing and "mocking" the explicit photos of her they found on her cell phone. At the start of the investigation, Gloor asked Waters for her phone and told her she would download its contents. Gloor said she needed the contents of the phone for evidence. Waters told Gloor she was apprehensive about that, the lawsuit contends, because there were some explicit photos of herself on the phone that were unrelated to the complaint and the investigation. Gloor Register file photo/WANDA CHANDLER Gloor "assured (Waters) the photos would not be investigated," according to the court filing, and that only the text messages would be submitted for discovery. But the photos were later distributed to others — "inside and outside the sheriff's office" — by both Levorchick and Gloor, the lawsuit contends, despite Waters' earlier pleas that her privacy be respected. One of the deputies who received or was shown the photos later quit the sheriff's office and got a job with another law enforcement agency in the county, the lawsuit states. He told his chief that Gloor showed him the photos and made derogatory remarks about them. After locating the explicit photos on her phone, Gloor "began to outrageously hold them up, show them off and degrade the plaintiff," the lawsuit states. Levorchick's actions also "were outrageous because of the lack of leadership in stopping inappropriate distribution of the photos." Levorchick also discussed the explicit photos with a member of the media "in graphic detail," the lawsuit contends. A Register editor is identified in the lawsuit as the person he spoke to. Both defendants violated Waters right to privacy and humiliated her, the court filing states. Gloor, who was a chief witness against Waters, quit her job at the sheriff's office just weeks before Waters' trial. In the lead up to the trial the Register learned about reported that two other women filed complaints against the same man Waters accused, saying they also were raped after meeting him and having too much to drink. Both those incidents occurred in 2008. Yost suggested the other women also might be lying, but Waters was the only person charged. The other women are both white; Waters is Black. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday. Waters is represented by Sarah Anjum, a Toledo attorney who represented her at her criminal trial. Waters is seeking $500,000 in damages. Levorchick declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted on Friday. Gloor could not be reached for comment.